This week a supply run took us all the way to Portland, Oregon, to pick up the centerpiece of our new cidery: the brite tank. This shiny, triple-walled, jacketed and glycol-chilled vessel will be the cider’s last stop before the bottle. It’s how we put the bubbles in the booze. We hummed and hawed over different tanks but ended up following the advice of older and wiser cidermakers in opting for a more locally made, custom-welded tank that fits our needs, space and budget.

Two months ago it seemed like a fun idea to make a road-trip out of it and check out the dozens of cideries along the way, but with apple season now in full-swing it turned into a 36-hour mad dash across the border and back. We did, however, manage to sneak in a quick visit to Bushwhacker cider bar (top right). Touted as the original cider bar in North America and the first cidery in Portland, they are soon to have the largest bottle selection in Portland (of anything), and they already stock up to 350 bottled ciders. We found a cornucopia of English, French, Spanish, New England, Pacific Northwest and even Quebecois cider. If only our wallets and livers could have sustained us all night! But since the wonderful bartender Emily was closing up shop and we had another day of highways, border crossings and ferry lines ahead of us, we settled for a nightcap of Wandering Aengus 2014 Golden Russet single varietal. Sniffed it. Admired it. And quaffed it.

Back in island reality we’re shin-deep in ripe, dropping Gravensteins and have harvested about 1500 pounds already from the hundred-year-old trees at Old Orchard Farm. Admittedly, the delicate twist-and-lift action of picking the apples isn’t the hard part: the hard part is struggling to move our twenty foot ladders around the huge trees (which is like dancing with a very tall, very drunk, sharp-shinned person), then performing our rather breathtaking maneuvers atop them while burdened with an increasingly heavy picker’s bag—and finally, lifting and carting each tote across the orchard to the truck. It’s tiring work but we’re keeping our heads up with the thought of the beautiful cider these apples will soon produce and the words of support (along with the occasional glass of homemade lemonade) that we receive from the Pender community each day. Cheers to that!

Keepin’ a close eye on our “hedgerow” batch, a cider finished on damson plums and blackberries—we’re racking it as its last sugars drop to keep it residually off-dry. Can’t help daydreaming about summertime whenever I see that colour 🙌🏼
#farmcrafted #foragedfruit #craftcider #ciderlife #ciderfolk #penderisland #gulfislands #craftedwithcare

A most suitable way for two cider makers to express affection. #latergram of the perfect apple pie—our secrets are par-cooking the filling to reduce moisture and grating in some fresh ginger 👌🏼. Anyone else have tips for perfect pies? #appleromance #baking #applepie #spicingitup #homecooked #cidery #ciderfolk

It’s been a while since we posted a #ciderread, so here’s one from the bookshelf. This manual was written to encourage genteel British women in the early twentieth century to add “a trifle to a straitened income” through the cottage industries of drying, canning, jam making and cider and perry making. It’s a great and fascinating challenge to the stereotypical male images conjured up in most of the old cider books we find. #cidermaking #cottageindustry #oldbooks #bookshelf #ciderhistory #vintage #cider #fruit #canning

Surely this counts as “summer pruning”? It’s a hats off, jackets off type of day on the little islands. #gulfislands #winterpruning #farmdays #cidery #penderisland #pnwlife

Our winter evenings have been getting creative. Matthew’s coaxing out his inner artist for a new side project we’re collaborating on for 2018. Stay tuned... #eveningwork #artsandcrafts #watercolour #illustration #winterprojects #branchingout

Hey farmers—join us at the annual Vancouver Island Farmer Mixer Feb 10/11! We’ll be speaking on a panel with other local makers about value-added production for farms. Two days of amazing speakers and community—and don’t worry, we’re bringing the keg 😉. #Repost @youngagrarians
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YOUNG AGRARIANS 5TH VANCOUVER ISLAND WINTER MIXER, FEB 10-11 at @camppringle in #ShawniganLake, BC. Join us for two days of farming workshops, networking, and a #landlinking event! Find out more on our website—🔗 is in our profile. #VIMIXER2018
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#CoastSalishTerritory #youngfarmers #newfarmers #smallfarms #vancouverisland